The present invention relates to a method of providing an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, a panty liner or an incontinence protector for women, with protective layers that cover the adhesive regions of the article, said article including an absorbent body or pad which is sandwiched between a liquid-permeable outer sheet and a liquid-impermeable outer sheet and which is provided with a flexible flap that projects out from each longitudinal edge of the article along a part of each said longitudinal edge, wherein the flaps are intended to be folded around the edge of a panty or a pair of underpants and fastened to the outside thereof or to each other when the article is worn, and have adhesive regions on the outside of the liquid-impermeable outer sheet on at least one of the flaps and on that part of said outer sheet that extends over the absorbent body. The invention also relates to an absorbent article provided with protective layers.
Sanitary napkins that include outwardly projecting, flexible wings or flaps, which most often consist in laterally extended portions of the outer sheet of the napkin and which are intended to be folded around the edges of a pair of panties and fastened to the outside of the panties after having fastened the napkin to the inside of the panties, have become very popular with the users of sanitary napkins. In order to enable such napkins to be fastened to panties, the napkins are provided with adhesive regions on the outer sheet that lies proximal to the panties, both on the flaps and on that part of the napkin which is fastened to the inside of the panties. In order to protect these adhesive regions from contaminants such as dust and similar substances, and to prevent the adhesive drying out and also to facilitate handling of the napkins, the adhesive regions are covered with protective layers that are removed when fitting the napkin into a pair of panties. These protective layers normally comprise so-called release paper, which consists of silicone-coated paper and which can be removed easily from the adhesive regions without impairing the adhesiveness of the adhesive.
So-called string panties, i.e. panties with which the rear part of the crotch portion of the napkin is very narrow, have become very popular in recent times, and sanitary napkins designed to fit into string panties have been produced. Because conventional sanitary napkins that include wings or flaps have been widely appreciated by the users of such napkins, it is desirable to include such flaps also on sanitary napkins that are intended for use with string panties.
In the manufacture of conventional flap-equipped sanitary napkins, the adhesive layers and protective layers are applied by cutting the respective flap-protecting layers and the layers for protecting that part of the napkin which includes the absorbent body from separate reels of protective layer material and then mounting these layers on the napkin. Prior to cutting these separate protective layers from the different reels of material, adhesive is applied to said layers in those patterns intended for the adhesive regions of the napkin.
This application process cannot be applied to flap-equipped sanitary napkins for string panties, because the flaps of such napkins must, of necessity, be relatively narrow and will be inclined to the longitudinal symmetry axis of the napkin. A rectangular strip of protective layer material that has a width corresponding to the width of the adhesive pattern on the flap will then extend outwardly of the inclined flap on opposite sides thereof.
The object of the present invention is to enable protective layers to be applied to flap-equipped sanitary napkins that are designed to be worn in string panties, in a simple and uncomplicated fashion with the aid of conventional equipment and in a manner such that the production rate of a production line for the production of such napkins will not be impaired by the application of said protective layers.
This object of the invention is achieved with a method of providing an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, a panty liner or an incontinence protector for women, with protective layers that cover the adhesive regions of the article, said article including an absorbent body or pad which is sandwiched between a liquid-permeable outer sheet and a liquid-impermeable outer sheet or backing sheet and which includes a flexible flap that projects out from each longitudinal edge of the article along a part of each said longitudinal edge, wherein the flaps are intended to be folded around the edge of a panty and fastened to the outside of the panty when the article is worn and have adhesive regions on the outside of the liquid-impermeable outer sheet on at least one of the flaps and on that part of said outer sheet that extends over the absorbent body, said article being characterised in that a rectangular protective layer that has a width corresponding to the greatest width of the article and a length that corresponds to the length of the article is provided with two cuts which when the protective layer is applied to an article extend linearly between the points at which the flaps adjoin the longitudinal edges of said article; in that the cut protective layer is placed on the article so that the two cuts extend linearly between the points of connection of the flaps to the longitudinal edge of the article; and in that a contour corresponding to the outer contour of the article is cut from the rectangular protective layer. This method results in the application of a continuous and stable protective layer on each article, said layer being divided into separate respective layers for the flaps and for that part of the article which includes the absorbent body whilst cutting out the finished article at the same time. Thus, only one single protective layer is applied to the article when practicing the present invention.
The invention relates in particular to a method of providing absorbent articles in the form of sanitary napkins, panty liners or incontinence protectors for women continuously with protective layers that cover the adhesive regions of the article in the continuous manufacture of such absorbent articles; wherein each article includes an absorbent body that is enclosed between a liquid-permeable outer sheet and a liquid-impermeable outer sheet, and further includes a flexible flap that projects out from each longitudinal edge of the article along a part of each said longitudinal edge, wherein the flaps are intended to be folded around the edge of a panty or a pair of pants when used, and fastened to the outside of said panty or pants, and have adhesive regions on the outside of the liquid-impermeable outer sheet on at least one of the flaps and on that part of said outer sheet that extends over the absorbent body. The article is characterised in that a web of protective layer material that has a width which corresponds at least to the greatest width of the article seen at right angles to the machine direction is provided with a sequence of pairs of cuts which are so spaced apart that when the web of protective layer material is mounted on a web of article blanks the two cuts in each pair of mutually sequential pairs of cuts will lie linearly between the points at which the flaps connect with the longitudinal edges of each article; and is further characterised in that the thus cut web of protective layer material is placed on a web of article blanks so that the two cuts in each pair of mutually sequential pairs of cuts will extend linearly between the points at which the flaps connect with the longitudinal edges of each article; and in that individual article provided with protective layers are cut from the composite web of article blanks and the web of protective layer material. Because complete separation of the protective layers on the flaps from the protective layer on the part of the article that includes the absorbent body is not effected until final separation of individual articles from the composite web of material, the method enables protective layers that extend while inclined to the machine direction to be readily achieved with conventional equipment without impairing the production rate.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the web of protective layer material is coated with a sequence of patterns of adhesive regions that correspond to the patterns of adhesive with which each article shall be provided prior to cutting the web of protective layer material and placing said material on the web of article blanks. The web of protective layer material is placed on the web of article blanks subsequent to the row of absorbent bodies on this latter web having been enclosed between two webs of outer sheet material.
According to one variant, the web of protective layer material is applied to the web of liquid-impermeable outer sheet material prior to said web having been combined with the row of absorbent bodies.
In another variant, the cuts extend beyond the long edges of the article and have at each end a section that curves outwards in relation to the longitudinal axis of the article. The outwardly curved end-part of respective cuts may be terminated with inwardly curved sections that connect with the linear part of said sections at points which lie between the points at which the flaps connect with the longitudinal edges of each article, when the web of protective layer material is mounted on a web of article blanks. The resultant pieces cut from the web of protective layer material are removed prior to placing said web on the web of article blanks.
In the case of one preferred embodiment, the cuts are discontinuous, preferably so as not to reach the points at which the flaps connect with the longitudinal edges of the article.
The invention also relates to an absorbent article in the form of a sanitary napkin, a panty liner or an incontinence protector for women comprising an absorbent body which is enclosed between a liquid-permeable and a liquid-impermeable outer sheet and which includes a flexible flap that projects out from each longitudinal edge of the article and extends along a part of each said longitudinal edge, said flaps being intended to be folded around the edge of a string panty when the article is worn and fastened to the outside of said panty. The article has regions of adhesive on the outside of the liquid-impermeable outer sheet on the flaps and on that part of the outer sheet that extends over the absorbent body, wherein the absorbent body has a front part and a rear part and tapers rearwardly from a section of greatest width in the front part of the article to its rear end. The article is characterised in that it includes a first protective layer that is fastened to the adhesive regions of the part of the liquid-impermeable surface sheet that includes the absorbent body and that extends over the whole of this part and can be easily removed therefrom, and further includes two other protective layers each of which are fastened to one of the flaps and which extend over essentially the whole of this flap and can be easily removed therefrom, and wherein the edges of the second protective layers facing towards the absorbent body and the bordering edges of the first protective layer extend linearly between each of the points at which the flaps connect with the longitudinal edges of the article. Such an article has many advantages. For instance, it can be readily manufactured, has separate protective layers for flaps and that part of the article which includes the absorbent body, facilitates inward folding of the flaps, and can be easily handled and easily folded for packaging purposes.
In one advantageous variant, the flaps have no protective layer on their front and rear end-parts.
In one preferred variant, the protective layers removably fasten to the flaps are each connected to the first protective layer via at least one narrow bridge of material between adjacent edges of said protective layers. The bridges are preferably located in the ends of the edges of the protective layers removably fastened to the flaps and bordering on the longitudinal edges of the first protective layer. The bridges have a width of 1-10 mm, preferably 3-5 mm.